Hentges v. Hentges, 17042

• Decision Date: 02 December 1988
• Docket Number: No. 17042,17042
• Citation: 115 Idaho 192,765 P.2d 1094
• Parties: Diane HENTGES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William HENTGES, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

Page 1094

765 P.2d 1094

115 Idaho 192

Diane HENTGES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William HENTGES, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 17042.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

Dec. 2, 1988.

Sue S. Flammia (Flammia & Solomon), of Coeur D'Alene, for plaintiff-appellant.

Stephen B. McCrea, of Coeur D'Alene, for defendant-respondent.

BURNETT, Judge.

Diane Hentges appeals from a decision of the district court upholding a magistrate's decree in a divorce action. The decree awarded a disproportionate share of the couple's community property to Diane's husband, William Hentges. We are presented with three issues: (1) whether the magistrate abused his discretion in making an unequal division of property; (2) whether the magistrate erred in failing to consider the receipt and expenditure of community funds during the parties' separation; and (3) whether the district court, on appeal, erred in awarding attorney fees to the husband. For reasons explained below, we affirm the decision of the district court insofar as it upholds the divorce decree; however, we reverse that portion of the decision which awards attorney fees to the husband.

The underlying facts are sobering. Diane and Bill Hentges were married in Illinois in 1965. Five years later, Bill suffered a work-related injury that rendered him almost completely paralyzed from the neck down. Subsequently, Bill sued for damages in an Illinois state court. As compensation for his injuries, he received a lump sum settlement of $825,000 which, after adjustments for attorney fees and workers' compensation reimbursements, left him with about $500,000. Shortly thereafter, the family, including the couple's three sons and a daughter, moved to a ranch outside Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. They purchased the ranch with part of the funds obtained from the personal injury settlement. The remaining settlement proceeds were placed in a trust account, with both Bill and Diane named as beneficiaries.

One tragedy followed another. A few years after the family moved to Idaho, the daughter was diagnosed as terminally ill with cancer. She died in 1979 at the age of eleven. Two years later Bill and Diane separated. Thereafter, Diane filed for divorce based upon irreconcilable differences. She sought joint legal custody of the boys, sole physical custody of them, and an equal division of the parties' assets which, she contended, were entirely community property. Bill answered and counterclaimed for a divorce based upon desertion, extreme cruelty and irreconcilable differences. He likewise sought sole physical custody of the children, but he asserted that the personal injury settlement and all property acquired with proceeds of the settlement were his separate property.

A trial was held before a magistrate. Both spouses were awarded joint legal custody of their three sons. The magistrate determined that the parties' entire estate was community property. However, the magistrate concluded that Bill's extraordinary needs entitled him to receive a disproportionate share of the property. Diane appealed to the district court, which affirmed and awarded attorney fees to Bill. This appeal followed.

I

Diane first challenges the magistrate's decision to divide the couple's community property unequally. Because Bill no longer is contesting the magistrate's determination that assets were entirely community property, we will accept that determination as a predicate of our discussion. Diane's argument is two-pronged. First, she asserts that the magistrate erred by failing to articulate compelling reasons for an unequal property division. Second, she contends that the disproportionate award of property to Bill constituted an abuse of discretion.

A

Prefatorily, we note that Diane attacks the method by which the district court, acting in its appellate capacity, reviewed the magistrate's decree. She contends that the district court applied a broad, deferential standard of appellate review, without recognizing the legal content of the issues raised. Resolution of this question is not critical to the outcome of this case. However, we believe a few points must be clarified to avoid future confusion.

Rule 83(u)(1), I.R.C.P., provides, in pertinent part, that

[u]pon an appeal from the magistrate's division of the district court, not involving a trial de novo, the district court shall review the case on the record and determine the appeal as an appellate court in the same manner and upon the same standards of review as an appeal from the district court to the Supreme Court under the statutes and the law of this state, and the appellate rules of the Supreme Court.

Where a district court sits as an appellate court for the purpose of reviewing a magistrate's judgment, the district court is required to determine whether there is substantial evidence to support the magistrate's findings of fact. If those findings are so supported, and if the conclusions of law demonstrate proper application of legal principles to the facts found, then the district court will affirm the magistrate's judgment. The judgment also will be upheld on further appeal. See Ustick v. Ustick, 104 Idaho 215, 657 P.2d 1083 (Ct.App.1983).

Here, the district judge essentially applied the substantial evidence standard to questions of fact. He also noted the standard of review specifically applicable to unequal divisions of community property--abuse of discretion. See Bailey v. Bailey, 107 Idaho 324, 689 P.2d 216 (Ct.App.1984). We see no error in the district judge's recitation and application of these standards. Furthermore, any impropriety in the district court would not affect the outcome of this Court's decision. Where, as here, the issues before the appellate court are the same as those considered by the district court sitting in an appellate capacity, the appellate court will review the trial record with due regard for, but independently from, the district court's decision. Robinson v. Joint School District No. 331, 105 Idaho 487, 670 P.2d 894 (1983).

B

Diane's next challenge is procedural. As noted above, she contends that the divorce decree must be set aside because the magistrate failed to state with particularity the compelling reasons justifying the unequal property division. It is true that a trial judge must make a "substantially equal division" of the community estate "[u]nless there are compelling reasons otherwise." I.C. § 32-712. The statute enumerates several factors to consider in deciding whether to deviate from substantial equality. The judge's threshold choice between substantial equality and some other equitable division in turn determines the standard of appellate review. If the judge chooses substantial equality, the issue on appeal is a factual one--whether substantial and competent evidence shows that equality actually has been achieved. See Bailey v. Bailey, supra. Conversely, if, as in the present case, the judge elects an unequal division, our inquiry is whether, under the circumstances, the judge has abused his discretion by so doing. Id. Proper appellate review requires a statement of the "compelling" reasons for the unequal division. This statement is indispensable not only to inform the parties and an appellate court of the basis for the decision, but also to assure compliance with the statutory standards governing that decision. Id.

Here, the magistrate did not use the statutory language of "compelling reasons" in rendering his decision. Rather, after an exhaustively detailed recitation of the pertinent facts in the case, he stated: "The sum total of the evidence presented in this case requires that the defendant be awarded a substantially disproportionate share of the community property." The magistrate did a superb job of cataloging all the salient information. But assembling facts is not the same as articulating the reasons for a discretionary decision. We adjure magistrates in the future to make specific statements, explaining why they believe the facts warrant disparate division of community property.

This exhortation notwithstanding, a remand in this case appears to be unnecessary. ¹ Although the magistrate failed to track the language of I.C. § 32-712, the import of his decision is clear. The "sum total of the evidence" demonstrated that Bill, as a profoundly disabled person, probably unemployable and saddled with ongoing expenses related to his condition, required a greater share of the community property to support himself. Where, as here, the reasons clearly appear from the record, a failure to state specific reasons may be disregarded on appeal. Cf. Quick v. Crane, 111 Idaho 759, 773, 727 P.2d 1187, 1201 (1986) (extending this principle to a motion for new trial, but remanding because reasons were not obvious).

C

We next discuss the substantive question whether the magistrate's decision to make an unequal property division was an abuse of discretion. We begin by enunciating the standard of review. On an issue of discretion, the appellate inquiry is multi-tiered: (1) whether the lower court rightly perceived the issue as one of discretion; (2) whether the court acted within the outer boundaries of such discretion and consistently with any rules applicable to specific choices; and (3) whether the court made its decision by an exercise of reason. Standards of Appellate Review in State and Federal Courts § 3.4, IDAHO APPELLATE HANDBOOK (Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. 1985). Here, we perceive Diane's challenge as directed at the latter two questions--i.e., whether the magistrate acted within the outer boundaries of his authority as governed by I.C. § 32-712, and whether he based his decision on an exercise of reason.

It is clear that the magistrate referred to and was guided by the factors set forth in I.C. § 32-712. The statute provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

(b) Factors which may bear upon whether a division shall be equal, or the manner of division, include, but are not limited to:

(1) Duration of the...